Oracle-Sun: Senators and Software CEOs Weigh In

Written by The VAR Guy 1
November 30, 2009

From Washington, D.C., to Silicon Valley, senators and software industry CEOs are pressuring the European Union to make a decision on Oracle's proposed buyout of Sun Microsystems and the MySQL open source database. Here's the latest chatter, including a letter from Jaspersoft CEO Brian Gentile to the EU.

oracle_sun_mysql From Washington, D.C., to Silicon Valley, senators and software industry CEOs are pressuring the European Union to make a decision on Oracle’s proposed buyout of Sun Microsystems and the MySQL open source database. Here’s the latest chatter, including a letter from Jaspersoft CEO Brian Gentile to the EU.

As you may recall, Oracle is trying to gobble up Sun Microsystems in a bid to compete head-on against IBM. But Sun’s ownership of the MySQL database has complicated the proposed deal. Apparently, the EU is worried Oracle will destroy MySQL — though Oracle has publicly vowed to invest in the open source database.

Now, for the tricky part: The longer the EU reviews the proposed Oracle-Sun deal, the more difficult it is for Sun to maintain its sales and market share. Further complicating matters, The VAR Guy believes MySQL’s channel partner program has gone radio silent under Sun’s ownership.

Eager for action, 59 U.S. senators have sent an open letter to European antitrust regulators, urging them to hasten their deliberations on the proposed Sun-Oracle combo, reports BizJournals.com.

JasperSoft Weighs In

Meanwhile, small open source companies — such as Jaspersoft, a Business Intelligence specialist and Open Source 50 member — are weighing in on the proposed deal. JasperSoft CEO Brian Gentile has sent a letter to Neelie Kroes, commissioner for competition at the EU. Gentile disclosed the letter and its contents in his personal blog. Gentile’s note includes the following highlights:

Our success – as well as others – is at least partially due to MySQL and the impact it has had on the expansion of the database market using this same model. The market will continue to benefit when MySQL is once again able to fully compete.

With new software development models succeeding, innovation will continue unabated. And, it will happen in the database market. Ingres, PostgreSQL and MariaDB, for example, will only grow stronger and prove to be more competitive. And, new database products will emerge that supplement existing competition.

Gentile’s letter is a savvy political move. It raises Jaspersoft’s visibility and potentially puts the company on Oracle’s radar for future expanded partnerships.

After several delays there are signs that the EU is ready to get down to business on the Oracle-Sun matter. CNet reports that the EU on December 10 will host a hearing about the proposed Oracle-Sun combo.

In the meantime, Oracle is marching forward with its own channel strategy. The database and applications giant is set to officially launch the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized program on December 2.

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